Gearbox bought the IP for roguelike icon Risk of Rain, planned a free-to-play mobile spinoff with a new dev, and has now canceled it before it's even out

gamesradar.com:

Gearbox Publishing is ending development on its mobile Risk of Rain spinoff before its official launch.

The Borderlands studio acquired the rights to the Risk of Rain IP back in November and immediately revealed plans for a free-to-play mobile gacha game called Risk of Rain: Hostile Worlds. The game spent about six months in regional Early Access on various mobile platforms but failed to make much of a splash in the general gaming market. Now, Gearbox Publishing has announced it's ceasing development on the game while leaving the future of the Risk of Rain IP wide open.

"As we look ahead to the future of the Risk of Rain franchise, we have made the decision to cease development on Risk of Rain: Hostile Worlds," reads an announcement on the game's official Discord channel. On June 29, the game will be pulled from all storefronts and will be inaccessible even to those who already have it installed on their mobile devices.

In the time between now and then, Gearbox Publishing says it wants to "make sure that you have the best experience possible while playing," and is thus disabling premium currency purchasing and lowering the prices for most items in the store. Some other "economy changes" are also being made "to deliver more value" to players in the short amount of time they have left with the game.

In terms of refunds and whatnot, Gearbox Publishing points players to Apple's App Store and Google Play.

It isn't clear the exact reason for the abrupt cancelation, but one can fairly safely assume it simply didn't meet the company's financial goals. Back when it was announced, Gearbox Publishing said its plan was "to welcome a whole new group of players into the franchise" and "share Risk of Rain with a wider audience and enable players to step into the Risk of Rain universe wherever." Risk of Rain fans were underwhelmed by the reveal and, after six months, Gearbox Publishing is cutting its losses.

Find out why we ranked Risk of Rain 2 as one of the best roguelikes eve